CBP officers apprehend suspected murderer at Atlanta Airport

Release Date:

April 9, 2019

ATLANTA – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers assigned to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) arrested a 51-year-old man who had an active warrant from Tennessee for first degree murder.

CBP officers have conducted 1,107 ap-prehensions at U.S. ports of entry.

John C. Ralph was scheduled to fly to Amsterdam, The Netherlands Saturday when CBP officers confirmed he was an exact match to an active National Crime Information Center (NCIC) arrest warrant out of Elizabethton, Tenn. He was immediately intercepted and arrested prior to boarding his flight.

CBP made the arrest in conjunction with the U.S. Marshals Service, Tennessee Bureau of Investigations, and the Carter County Sheriff’s Office.

“Whether entering or departing the United States, our vigilant and highly trained CBP officers are adept at stopping fugitives from attempting to evade the law,” said Carey Davis, CBP Atlanta Area Port Director. “Our nation is safer because of their work.”

The NCIC is a centralized automated database designed to share information such as outstanding warrants among law enforcement agencies. Based on information from NCIC, CBP officers have previously arrested individuals wanted for homicide, escape, money laundering, robbery, narcotics distribution, sexual child abuse, fraud, larceny, and military desertion.

CBP routinely conducts inspection operations on arriving and departing international flights, arresting an average of 75 wanted persons a day at U.S. ports of entry nationwide, and intercepting narcotics, weapons, currency, prohibited agriculture products, and other illicit items. Every year, CBP officers across the Atlanta Field Office conduct hundreds of arrests of individuals wanted for crimes ranging from homicide and assault and battery to sexual assault of a minor and possession of illegal weapons.

View the CBP Snapshot to learn more of what CBP achieves ‘On a Typical Day.’

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between official ports of entry. CBP is charged with securing the borders of the United States while enforcing hundreds of laws and facilitating lawful trade and travel.